Notes: Brett Favre calls Darrell Bevell ‘very brilliant offensive-minded coach’

Last week, a photo of a young Darrell Bevell fresh off a Rose Bowl victory as the Wisconsin Badgers quarterback lined shoulder-to-shoulder with an early-career Brett Favre went viral. The two would later reunite in 2000, when Bevell got his first NFL job as the Packers assistant quarterback. The two have since grown to know and love each other, and that was apparent this week when Favre joined SiriusXM to hype of Bevell after his first career win.

“I think he’s a very brilliant offensive-minded coach,” Favre said on The SiriusXM Blitz with Brett Favre. “Very low key, not a big rah rah guy, kind of tells you what he’s thinking, and easy to get along with.”

There’s no doubt that Bevell made drastic changes to Detroit’s offensive gameplan in Sunday’s win over the Chicago Bears. Matthew Stafford looked like the quarterback of old, and even Marvin Jones Jr. had a throwback performance.

For Favre, this opportunity for Bevell—who has spent the last 20 years coaching in the NFL—was long overdue.

“Darrell is very capable,” Favre said. “I think, again, he’s deserved a shot long before, in my opinion.”

• 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh joined Adam Schefter’s podcast late last week and spoke briefly about the hype around him for the Lions head coaching job. Though he says he hasn’t even really thought about it, he admits he’s been flooded with texts from friends and family about it.

• T.J. Hockenson has been very good this year. Very, very good:

• Former Lions tight end Isaac Nauta, who was waived by the team on Saturday, is signing to the Packers’ practice squad.

• Good get for ESPN’s Michael Rothstein. He chatted with former Lions interim general manager Sheldon White, who took over midseason when Martin Mayhew was dismissed:

• Chris Burke of The Athletic looked deep into the Bears game to see exactly what changed with Darrell Bevell at the helm.

• Marvin Jones Jr. isn’t one to publicly speak out, but he, too, appears relieved that Matt Patricia was let go. He told NFL Network’s Mike Silver that “it’s been a while” since he’s had this much fun playing football: